Drive for metal forming machine



Dec. 18, 1956 L. HyxNosT DRIVE FOR METAL Femme MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet lFiled Feb. 26. 1952 .,.nlaxlllil Dec. 18, 1956 L.. H. KrgosT 2,774,247

DRIVE FOR METAL. FORMING yMALHINE:

Filed Feb. 26, 1952 3 Sheets-511661'. 2

INVENTOR. Lgyczf Kfz as* 22M Mgr@ Decn 1s, 1956 l. H. KNOST 2,774,247

Y DRIVE FOR METAL FORMING MACHINE Filed Feb. 26,1952 A s sheets-snee: 5

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United States Patent DRIVE FOR METAL FORMING MACHINE Lloyd H. Knost,Carthage, Mo.

Application February 26, 1952, Serial No. 273,427

6 claims. (ci. 'I4-206) This invention relates to a metal formingmachine and more particularly to machines of that character wherein atleast two forming roll shafts are employed which are mounted for bodilymovement relatively to each other to bring the forming rolls togetherand apart under operating conditions. i

More specifically the present invention is directed to the driving meansemployed for rotating the relatively movable forming roll shafts andunder conditions wherein such shafts are bodily actuated together vandapart 'to carry out the functions of the metal forming machine.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a simpleand effective drive betweenlforming roll shafts to rotate such shafts intimed relation,`fand tovcontinuously maintain the drive while the shaftsare being bodily manipulated to. actuate the forming rollsintoengagement with a work piece.

Another object of this invention is to provide coacting resilient driverolls or'wheels on theforming roll shafts that frictionally surfacecontact to transmit 'the vldrive from one shaft tothe other andwhich'are distortable to continue the drive while the shafts aremoveditogdther through appropriate operating mechanism.` 'I Y .y hAnother object of the present invention is to` provide drive wheelswhich have at least a peripheral portion thereof constructed fromresilient material and which are also provided with intermeshing teeth,for transmitting the drive therethrough and by the frictional contact ofsuch resilient portions. Such toothed Wheels, wherein the peripheralportions thereof and the teeth themselves are all constructed fromresilient material, will also permit movement of the forming roll shaftstoward and away from each other within predetermined limits while thedrive is being transmitted from one shaft'to the other.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a pairof drive wheels between the forming roll shafts wherein each of suchwheels comprises a composite structure having a hub for connection withthe shaft, a ring gear for meshing engagement with theother drive wheel,each of said wheels being constructed with a resilient body interposedbetween the hub and the ringgear to provide radial distortion of suchwheels and particularly radial movement of the ring gears with respectto each other and to the shafts. It is also an advantage to provide suchring gears with the resilient body portion thereof arranged withapertures or openings' therein to accornmodate the distorting portion ofthe body under operative running conditions of the machine wherein theshafts are moved toward and away from. each other.

Another object of the present invention .is to provide resilient driverolls or wheels connected with the shafts wherein the peripheralsurface'portions thereof are provided with a tortuous contour to provideapgreater frictional contact area at a point of tangency between suchWheels.

Other objects and advantages relating to the forming roll shaft drivingmeans of the present invention shall hereinafter appear in the followingdetailed description F'ice having reference to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a metal forming machine incorporating thedriving means of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1with portions thereof broken away and in section substantially as viewedalong the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modified construction of driving means whichmay be employed in place of the driving means best illustrated in Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is another modified construction of the driving wheels of thepresent invention for transmitting power between the forming rollshafts;

Fig. 5 is a diametrical sectional view taken substantially along theline 5-5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of another modified arrangement ofdriving means for transmitting the drive between bodily movable formingroll shafts; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views illustrating certain operations ofthe forming roll shafts under the uses to which the metal formingmachine is applied, these views supplementing the particular formingoperation i1- lustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the metal forming machine comprises a baseor standard 1 for enclosing the several mechanisms of the machine andwhich base terminates in a table 2 for' supporting the work structures.The main forming units of the machine comprise a pair of shafts 3 and 4with the shaft 3 being mounted in a pair of bearings 5`and 6, while theshaft 4 is mounted in bearings 7 and 8. In this particular constructionof machine, the shaft :4 is mounted for operation about a xed axis withthebearing 7 secured to the table top 2 and with the bearing'S-securedto a baffle or division member 9 formed as a portion of the base 1.Shaft 4 also depends through a -suitable opening 10 in the bathe 9 andenters a gear box 11 which is carried by a bracket structure 12 from thepartition or bathe 9. A motor 13 is secured to the wall 14 of the base 1and this motor drives the pulley 14' from which rotative power istransmitted through a multiple V belt 15 to a pulley 16 that is carriedupon a shaft 17 of the gear box 11, the drive being transmitted over tothe shaft 4 by suitable gear mechanisms within the box 11. v

The shaft 3 is arranged for rotation about an axis that is bodilymovable by reason of the bearings 5 and 6 being carried upon a pair ofarms 18 and 19 to which the bearings 5 and 6 are secured. The arms 18and 19 are pivovtally supported at 20 upon a xed bracket or partition 21carried adjacent the front wall 22 of the base 1, and the free ends ofthe arms 18 and 19 are pivotally connected at 23 with one end of a pairof links 24 and 25. A bell crank 26 is pivotally supported upon a shaft27 which is carried by spaced ears 28 and 29 that are also supportedfrom the wall 14 of the base 1. One arm 30 of the link is pivotallyconnected by means of the pin 31 with the links 24 and 25, while theother arm 31 of the link operates through an opening 32 within the rearwall 33 of the base 1 with its free end connected by means of a pin 34with a clevis member 35. Clevis 35 is secured to a piston rod 36 whichis endwise manipulated by means of an air cylinder 37 under a controlledair stream which is delivered thereto by means of a conduit 38. Cylinder37 has one or more ears 39 connected with the closed end therof forpivotally mounting the cylinder upon a pin or shaft 40 that is supportedby one or more ears 41 which are secured to the rear wall 33 of the base1.

The cylinder 37 may be double acting or single acting with a springreturn means depending upon the particular conditions of operation andupon the desirability of the operator as to the use of one or the other.Suiceit to say that the endwise actuation of rod 36 will swing the bellcrank 26 whereupon the free ends of the arms 18 and 19 are rocked abouttheir pivot 2t) through the link means 24 and 25. This action bodilymoves the shaft 3 toward or away from the shaft 4 to produce the desiredaction for operating the forming rolls.

As seen in Fig. 2, each of the shafts 3 and 4 extends upwardly throughopenings 42 and 43 in the table top 2 terminating with key slot reduceddiameter shaft ends 44 and 45 to which are secured the forming rolls 46and 47. The rolls 46 and 47 in this case are cooperative members whichcontain the groove 48 and the ange 49 respectively which produce thebead 50 adjacent the end of a work piece 51. The work piece 51 isarranged for support upon the table 2 and may be held in place by asuitable fixture such as 52 while such piece is being formed into thedesired shape by the forming rolls 46 and 47.

As also shown in Fig. l, suitable guide wheels 53 and 54 may be employedfor maintaining the work piece 51 in a specific position upon the table2 and with respect to the forming -rolls 46 and 47 when consideredlaterally thereof. Each of the wheels 53 and 54 are adjustably mountedupon a suitable mechanism such as 55 and 56 so that the wheels 53 and 54may be adjusted arcuately about the pivotal mountings 57 and 58 as wellas bodily endwise through the adjustable screw means 59 and 60.

Both of the guide wheels 53 and 54 and their associated mechanisms mayonly be optionally employed in this particular illustration in forming abead such as 50 upon the work piece 51. One or both of the guide wheels53 and 54 may be here employed to carry out bending operations of otherstock pieces as is well known in the present art.

As best seen in Fig. 2, the shaft 3, which is bodily movable in relationto the shaft 4, may be considered an idler shaft since the shaft 4 ispositively driven by means of the motor 13 and the connected mechanismsbetween the motor and shaft 4. To transmit the positive drive of shaft 4to shaft 3, a pair of drive rolls 61 and 62 are secured to the shafts 3and 4 by suitable key structures or other fastening means, and each ofthe drive wheels 61 and 62 are provided with resilient peripheralportions 63 and 64 which are disposed in operative and frictionaldriving contact at the point of tangency generally indicated at 65. Thedrive rolls or wheels 61 and 62 are constructed with metallic hubs 66which receive the shafts 3 or 4 and sleeve members such as 67 carry theresilient peripheral portions of the drive rolls and are preferablydrive tted or otherwise secured to the hubs 66.

With this arrangement, the drive from shaft 4 is transmitted throuh thedrive roll 62 to the drive wheel 61 by means of the resilient exteriorsof the rolls. Under maximum separation of the shafts 3 or 4 the driverolls 61 and 62 are designed for frictional contact of sufficient powertransmitting effectiveness so as to begin the metal forming operation.As the metal forming rolls 46 and 47 begin their edge wise cooperativework upon the work piece 51 through the opartion of the cylinder 37,shaft 3 is then bodily moved toward shaft 4 and as this actioncommences, the cooperative power transmitting means comprising the rolls61 and 62 permit such bodily relative movement between the shafts due totheir peripheral resiliency. Furthermore, such rolls will then moreeffectively drive the shaft 3 since the area of tangential contact-becomes increasingly greater as the shaft 3 approaches shaft 4 untilthe limits of operational performance has been accomplished asdetermined by the total formation of the bead 50 upon the work piece 51.Thus, with the distortion of the drive means comprising the rolls 61 and62 as the shafts 3 or 4 are moved relatively thereto, the drive iscontinued between such shafts while permitting the bodily movementthereof for forming metal articles into different shapes under thefunctions of a metal forming machine.

The thicknesses of the peripheral portions 63 and 64 of the drive rollscan be varied for accommodating different limits of operation asdetermined by the maximum movement required between suchshafts 3 and 4to carry out certain operations. With the introduction of thisparticular type of a drive means between the relatively movable shafts 3and 4 of a metal forming machine, it is possible to drive the shafts inpredetermined timed relation with respect to each other whileaccomplishing the forming operation.

The drive means of the described form has, therefore, been directed toAdrive rolls or wheels which are smooth surfaced and wherein theresilient portions thereof are concentric with the forming roll shaftswhich carry the respective drive members. The power transmission betweenthe shafts with this construction, therefore, depends upon the surfacecontact between the two driving members by which power is transmittedthrough their natural frictonal contact, and obviously by means of theinherent resiliency of portions of the drive members'. `In Fig. 3 thedriving means for connecting the vd rive between the shafts 3 and 4comprises a pair of power transmitting wheels 68 and 69 which have hubs70 and 71 for 'key connection at 72 and 73 to the shafts 3 and 4. Theouter peripheral surface portions of the power transmitting wheels 68and 69 are provided with teeth 74 and 75 respectively which in termeshin the same rmanner as gear teeth. i

With this construction, the peripheral portions of the powertransmitting members 68 and 69 arealso resiliently formed as shown' at 76 vand 77, lwhich portions and the teeth are integrally formed and allpreferably of `a rubber composition for purposes of carrying out thedrive between the two'shafts 3 and 4. lll/ ith this construction, theportions 7 6 and 77 are compressed and so are the teeth 74 and 75 totransmit the power from shaft 3 to shaft 4 under the conditions ofloperation previously described.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the power 'transmitting means here shown fortransmitting power between shafts 3 and 4 comprises a pair of gears 78and 79 which are each formed with metallic hubs 8 0 and 81 for keyconnection at 82 and 83 with the shafts 3 and 4. The outer portions ofthe gears 78 and 79 constitute the ring gears 84 and 85 which areconnected to the hubs by means of the resilient body structures 86 and87. The resilient structures 86 and 87 are also provided with suitableapertures such as 83 and 89, and the body portions may be bonded to eachof the ring gears and the hubs in any conventional form or substantiallyas illustrated in Fig. 5. With this construction of drive, theperipheral portions of the gears 78 and 79 are rigid and metallic, whilethe body portion of the gears are adapted to give and distort under theaction of the shafts 3 and 4 when the latter are moved toward eachother. Furthermore, the apertures or openings such as 88 and 89 in thebody portions of these gears provide a means for receiving deformed bodymaterial when the latter is under distortion and in operation.

The Fig. 6 construction `comprises a pair of resilient wheels 90 and 91for transmitting the drive between the shafts 3 and 4. In thisparticular construction the peripheral surface portions of these wheels90 and 91 are provided with the convolutions 92 and 93 to establish egreater surfacecontact between such wheels for a given length thereof.This also provides an intermeshing drive which lends itself to thedistortion ofthe contacting or tangential portion as the shafts 3 and 4are moved together.

To amplify the use and general operation of this machine and theadaptability and convenience of the drive, Figs. 7 and 8 have beeninserted to show how the shafts 3 and 4 may be used to perform a angingoperation as in Fig. 7 and a shearing operation as in Fig. 8. Fig. 7shows shafts 3 and 4 carrying forming rolls 94 and 95 to produce aflange 96 upon the work piece 97. In Fig. l8, the shafts 3 and 4 carrythe shearing rolls 98 and 99 to shear off a bottom peripheral portion100 of the work piece 101.

Other modifications and changes in the Various arrangements shown and inthe various parts comprising the drive means yof the present inventionare contemplated. However, all changes and deviations from the originaland modified concepts herein illustrated shall be governed by thebreadth and scope of the claims directed to the present invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a metal forming machine, bodily movable forming roll shafts, andpositive power transmission means connecting said shafts comprising acylindrical drive member on each shaft, said drive members each havingresilient cylindrical peripheral portions for direct face to facefrictional driving contact, and said peripheral portions each being of aradial thickness greater than the maximum bodily movement of said shaftsand radially distortable to permit said maximum relative bodily movementof said shafts toward and away from each other.

2. A means for transmitting a drive between bodily movable shaftscomprising at least two shafts, bearing means to support said shafts inparallel relation and arranged to move said shafts bodily toward andaway from each other, and resilient drive rollers secured to each ofsaid shafts respectively, each `of said rollers having faces thereonconcentrically arranged with respect to their associated shafts and withsaid roller faces being disposed in direct peripheral driving contactwith each other, said rollers being compressible and expandible underthe motion of said shafts.

3. In a metal forming machine, a first roll shaft mounted for rotationupon a fixed axis, a second roll shaft mounted for rotation upon abodily movable axis, power operated means connected to support saidsecond shaft and to move same toward and away from the first shaft, anddrive mechanism connected between said shafts to simultaneous rotate thelatter in predetermined timed relation comprising a resilient roller oneach shaft and said rollers each comprising solid cylindrical elasticrims surrounding inelastic hubs with said rims being of predeterminedradial thickness to accommodate the maximum movement between saidshafts, and said rims being in direct tangential frictional contact witheach other throughout the bodily shaft movements.

4. In a metal forming machine, a first roll shaft mounted for rotationupon a fixed axis, a second roll shaft mounted for rotation upon abodily movable axis, power operated means connected to support saidsecond shaft and to move same toward and away from the first shaft, anddrive mechanism connected between said shafts 5. In a metal formingmachine, a rst forming roll' shaft mounted for rotation upon a fixedaxis, a second forming roll shaft, a bearing structure, and link meansto swingably support said bearing structure and to bodily move saidsecond shaft toward said first shaft, a power drive to said first shaft,and cooperative drive means carried by each -of said shafts comprisingdrive wheels disposed in direct frictional driving contact, said drivewheels each having peripheral resilient means connected therewith toallow said link means to move said second shaft toward said first shaftunder operative'metal forming operation.

6. In a metal forming machine, bodily movable forming roll shafts, andpower transmission means connecting said shafts comprising a circulardrive member on each shaft, said drive members each having normallydeformable and circumferentially positioned body portions associatedtherewith, said drive members being arranged in physical driving contactone with the other, and said drive members when in normal startingcontact providing a drive from one to the other thereof throughpredetermined moment arm radii, and said same members through theirinherent deformable arrangement and construction providing a drive fromone to the other thereof under increasingly smaller moment arm radii assaid bodily movable shafts are actuated toward one another during themetal forming cycle of said machine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS100,977 Chamberlain Mar. 22, 1870 312,780 Wilcox Feb. 24, 1885 373,777Kirby Nov. 22, 1887 508,360 Wyand Nov. 7, 1893 1,043,012 Hudson Oct. 29,1912 1,235,734 Stange Aug. 7, 1917 1,965,533 Lyon July 3, 1934 2,227,789Macfarran Ian. 7, 1941 2,309,344 Harrington Ian. 26, 1943 FOREIGNPATENTS 20,189 Great Britain of 1892

